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VIRTUOUS LIVING - FOR THAT SPRING OF LIFE
interest of the people of the kingdom. But he did something remarkable: seated on the throne of Ayodhya was not he himself, but Lord Rāma's khadāun (wooden slippers), an apt reminder to him and to the others, who the actual King was.
The legend epitomizes the spirit of renunciation. This spirit is what made Lord Rāma so venerable; in fact, a God, worshipped by millions. Sitā, Laxman and Bharat are no less venerable; the legend illustrates their greatness in ample measure. By choosing to become poor, they became immeasurably rich! 'Blessed are the poor in spirit,' not because of their material
ir deliberate acceptance of it on spiritual grounds. It is those and only those who are poor in spirit that will be admitted into the Kingdom of God. Those who remain content with their lot, and those who are poor in spirit, that is, not arrogant but peaceful, not easily offended but humble, and those who are happy and cheerful and virtuous are alone to be blessed. Heaven is to be claimed by the poor, the hungry and the thirsty, only when the hunger and thirst are for righteousness. There is no room there for any one who has a grumbling disposition in the least. The principle illustrated is that if one longs for not material things, and renounces them by choice, not by force of circumstances over which he has no control, he is blessed. The renunciation of wealth in this manner is a means of attaining to the emotion of bliss. This teaching of Jesus is identical with that of the great Indian sages who have not only taught us the same thing in different words but practised renunciation to an extreme level to attain bliss in their own lives. Search for righteousness, provided it is sincere, procures peace and freedom from desire, and enables the hidden state ofānanda (bliss) to come into manifestation.
The idea of renunciation is not to decry national growth at all so far as its own sphere of action is concerned. It has its good points, and has gone a long way to improve the living conditions of
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